The Real Reason Why
by Orangeblossom Asakura
Summary: Ren was lost to his hatred for so long. Many people thought they had worked out the truth but no one had even come close to the real reason why.


**This story is dedicated to my best friend Fire Fang Dragon, Happy Birthday Fire Fang!**

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**The Real Reason Why**

My name is Ren, Ren Tao. I have done many bad things in my past. Things that I regret. Things that keep coming back to haunt me. I hurt people, sometimes even killed them. And I enjoyed it. But then I met him; Yoh Asakura. He put me back on the right track of life, he fixed me. He helped me go back to who I was before I lost her. He helped me return to my true self. The self that she loved.

You are probably wondering who she is. She was the love of my life. There was no one I cared about more in the whole world. I really did love her. I didn't care about what other people thought of us, we loved each other and that was all that mattered.

Her name was Martha, Martha Hunter. Many people called her a demon but to me she was an angel. She was my light in the dark. I met her when I was five years old. My childhood was not easy. My uncle En often taught me that everything was destroy or be destroyed and that guardian ghosts were only weapons. He made me learn hatred and fear. He even branded a tattoo onto my back to make sure that I would never forget his lesson.

When I was in pain, confused, sad, angry or depressed she was always there for me. She made me feel better about myself and helped me see the right path. Over time we bonded and I grew to love her.

She had short brown hair which revealed her beautiful face. Her sparkling blue eyes made me feel calm inside and she seemed to radiate a confident aura which made me feel like I could do anything I wanted without being contained in the cage of hatred which my family had built around me.

I knew that she had feelings for me too so I asked her to be my girlfriend. I often missed training to go and see her, to see her smile at me, to her say 'I love you', to feel loved.

When my uncle found out he was furious. He thought that she was making me weak by playing with my emotions. At that time I was too weak, too weak to do anything about this problem. I was too weak to save her.

One day I was summoned to my uncle's room. Once I arrived I saw her being held in my uncle's large hand, a look of fear and pain on her face. My uncle towered over me. I demanded that she was released, but he stood there and laughed before punching me with so much force that I was knocked back into the wall. He told me that I was weak because of her and that he couldn't allow that. I tried to get up but I was too weak to move.

I could do nothing but watch as he slowly crushed her. I begged him to stop as her pain filled screams increased but he didn't. After she was silent my uncle let her body fall to the floor with a loud thud. 'Let this be a lesson to you Ren, don't ever forget it'. He left me in there with her body.

I lost all hope as I looked at her lifeless body. 'Martha' I wailed. I felt so lost without her. I cried for the first and only time in my entire life. Once I had cried all of my tears I only felt one emotion. Hatred. The need for revenge, the need to kill.

I killed many people who got in my way. Even innocent people were slain by my hand but I was too blinded by my hatred and loss to notice that this was wrong.

I was like this for many years until Yoh saved me. I don't know what to do. Do you hate me Martha? For what I became, for what I did and what I planned to do? All of these thoughts kept running through my head. I thought that defeating my hatred and my uncle would make my pain stop, but it didn't.

It has been a week since Yoh and the others helped me to defeat my uncle. I am currently staying at the inn along with Yoh, Horohoro and Ryo. I try to act like I don't care and that everything is fine but somehow I think Yoh see's through my disguise.

I was sitting out on the porch at the back of the onsen when Yoh came out and sat next to me. "Hey Ren I know something's bothering you, what's wrong" he asked in his usual bubbly, carefree voice. I don't know why but I feel like I can talk to Yoh about anything, I trust him. I told him all about what happened with Martha and I felt some of the sadness disappear from my heart.

A couple of days later I was heading out to train when Yoh called out to me. "Hey Ren I have a surprise for you so follow me". I followed him to the cemetery and my heart almost stopped in my chest. Standing amongst the graves was Martha. My Martha. I ran to her and pulled her into a hug. I don't know how but after all these years she had come back to life, she had come back to me. I felt really happy for the first time in years. "How did you find her Yoh" I asked as tears of joy ran down my face. "I saw her watching you for a while now so I asked if she was your Martha and she was" Yoh replied.

I looked around at Martha. "Thank you for coming back, I was so lost without you. Martha looked up at me and smiled. "I was always there for you and don't worry I could never hate you" At that comment I felt all of my sadness and hate vanish and I felt just like I had done before.

Now you know about my past, my hatred, my actions and my anger. And now you know the real reason why.

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**Ren: **Happy Birthday Fire Fang Dragon

**Me: **Hope you enjoyed my first one shot


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